Acrylic enclosure

[HazAnga]

lol yeah... it dries out fairly quick, needing a spray down every other day at the longest

[ConcinusMan]

That's good, but being checkered's, (from somewhat arid climates) I would think they wouldn't mind having very dry enclosure and low relative humidity, in fact, they might prefer it. No garter snake likes living in a stuffy "steam room" with damp floors. I was just saying that fast drying is an indication good ventilation.

I didn't mean for it to sound like you should mist them all the time.

That's just something that I do need to do with baby northwesterns and concinnus from time to time when the humidity gets low. (below 50 percent) and it's good that the moisture evaporates within a day at most.

[Floof]

well this might counteract what you guy's have said, but yes these tanks are for my corns, the heat mat covers maybe 1/5th of the tank. the middle of the whole tank is where it is. it doesn't git so hot that it's going to melt the acrylic, my boss at the pet store i used to work at has done it for years and no problem (not to say that it couldn't ever happen) the acrylic is 1/4" thick and I'm not worried about it warping or melting or bending in anyway. The place where I got the acrylic also have a couple guys who have something similar to what I've done and do the same thing with their UTH's.

So, you don't control the heat mat in any way? I implore you to take the temperature of the heat pad under the substrate layer... It may surprise you how hot it gets. Maybe not hot enough to damage the acrylic, but certainly hot enough to damage your snakes. It's especially important to check if your snakes tend to burrow over the heat mat, as that means they're getting in that insulated area where all the heat is being held from the heat mat (and even being supplemented by the heat lamp--making it an even more dangerous situation).

I'm sorry if I'm getting annoying, but my biggest fear when it comes to reptiles is an overheating enclosure/room, or an out of control heat mat, and the animal either being unable to escape it or too stupid to get out of the way of that heat. I really, really don't want to see you make a post stating "my snake got burned" because "the UTH got too hot." Unregulated heat pads can be dangerous.

[ConcinusMan]

I'm with floof on this one. I hate those zoo med undertank heaters.

[HazAnga]

ok... so I've kinda upgraded the cage (lock wise)
My son is getting bigger and I'm just preparing for the future so I figured if I put a lock like what we use at work for pantries and cabinets and everything (cabinet shop). That way it keeps him out of the cage and the snakes in the cage.
Here's the picture, the first picture i took (got deleted) I was just about to take the picture and right when i pressed the button all the way down, the timer clicked and the lights went out... lol...


the locks on the bottom are temporary, as I decided to put 2 locks per door, making it very safe and escape proof. But I only had 2 of the nicer locks, so tomorrow I'll grab 2 more locks, lock core and keys and it will be complete.

[guidofatherof5]

Looks good.
Nothing wrong with planning ahead. Good job.

[HazAnga]

Now just to git a lock for sliding glass doors lol

[kerensa]

I have a couple of questions. First what did you use that melts the acrylic togeather? was it Tenax-r7? and second where did you find the acrylic hindges? I think this may be the enclosure answer I've been seeking. light weight, with the benifits of plastic with the benifits of tanks. any other advice about construction you can share would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

[HazAnga]

I have a couple of questions. First what did you use that melts the acrylic togeather? was it Tenax-r7? and second where did you find the acrylic hindges? I think this may be the enclosure answer I've been seeking. light weight, with the benifits of plastic with the benifits of tanks. any other advice about construction you can share would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

Well... first things first, I don't know what the stuff is called that melts it together, I got it and the acrylic hinges from a Plastics shop, I also got some of the acrylic from there. Try a glass shop or something, they may have something.

Advise... make sure you have things exactly where you want them before you glue, and make sure hinges aren't going to fall apart.